Van Helmont
Sources: Primitive Psycho-therapy And QuackeryJOHANN BAPTIST VAN HELMONT, a celebrated Belgian physician, scholar and
visionary, of noble family, was born at Brussels in 1577. At an early
age he began the study of medicine, and was appointed Professor of
Surgery at the University of Louvain. Becoming, however, infected with
the delusions of alchemy, and being possessed of an ardent imagination,
he inclined naturally to the study of occult science, and was infatuated
follower of the eminent theologian, Johann Tauler (1290-1361), founder
of mystic theology in Germany. Van Helmont has been described as an
enthusiastic and fantastic, though upright friend of the truth. He
adhered to the theosophic and alchemistic doctrines of a somewhat
earlier epoch, and was an admirer of the dogmatic pseudo-philosophy of
Paracelsus.
The German writer, Johann Christian Ferdinand Hoefer (1811-1878), said
that Van Helmont was much superior to Paracelsus, whom he took as his
model. He had the permanent distinction of revealing scientifically the
existence of invisible, impalpable substances, namely gases. And he was
the first to employ the word gas as the name of all elastic fluids
except common air. Van Helmont graduated as Doctor of Medicine in
1599, and after several years of study at different European
universities, he returned home and married Margaret van Ranst, a noble
lady of Brabant. He then settled down on his estate at Vilvoorden, near
Brussels, where he remained until his death in 1644.
Johann Hermann Baas, in his "History of Medicine," characterizes him as
a fertile genius in the department of chemistry, but denies that he was
a great and independent spirit, outrunning his age, or impressing upon
it the stamp of his own individuality. Van Helmont, like many another
irregular practitioner, achieved fame by some remarkable cures. It was
said of him that his patients never languished long under his care,
being always killed or cured within two or three days. He was frequently
called to attend those who had been given up by other physicians. And to
the latters' chagrin, such patients were often unexpectedly restored to
health.
A lover of the marvellous, and credulous to the point of superstition,
Van Helmont became infatuated with erroneous doctrines. His
contemporaries, dazzled, it may be, by the brilliancy of his mental
powers, regarded him as an erratic genius, but not as a charlatan.
The term spiritual vitalism has been applied to the philosophy of Van
Helmont. He maintained that the primary cause of all organization was
Archaeus (Gr. +archaios+, primitive), a term said to have been
invented by Basil Valentine, the German alchemist (born 1410).
This has been defined as a spirit, or invisible man or animal, of
ethereal substance, the counterpart of the visible body, within which it
resides, and to which it imparts life, strength, and the power of
assimilating food. Archaeus was regarded as the creative
spirit, which, working upon the raw material of water or fluidity, by
means of a ferment promotes the various actions which result in the
development and nutrition of the physical organism. As life and all
vital action depended upon archaeus, any disturbance of this spirit
was regarded as the probable cause of fevers and other morbid
conditions.
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Treatment Of Compression Stenoses Of The Trachea
If the thymus be at fault, rapid amelioration of symptoms follows roentgenray or radium therapy. Tracheotomy and the insertion of the long cane-shaped cannula (Fig. 104) past the compressed area is required in the cases caused by conditions less am... Treatment Of Endocarditis
As mild endocarditis rarely occurs primarily but is almost always secondary to some acute disease, its immediate treatment is only a slight modification of that of the disease which is causing it. A complication which is so frequent should always be... Treatment Of Other Eruptive Fevers
The treatment as prescribed for scarlatina in this pamphlet, is applicable also for other eruptive fevers, such as small-pox, varioloids, chicken-pocks, measles, miliaria, urticaria, zoster, rubeola, erysipelas, erythema, &c., its principal feature ... Treatment Of Pseudo-anginas
The treatment of these pseudo-angibas depends, of course, on the diagnosis of the cause, and the cause should be eliminated or modified. If the heart shows real disturbance from this reflex cause, the treatment aimed toward it depends on whether the... Treatment Of Scarlatina Anginosa Or Sore-throat Scarlet-fever
In _scarlatina anginosa_, or _sore-throat scarlet-fever_, which is the most common form of the disease (1-7) we have to discriminate, whether 1) the _reaction is mild_, the heat of the body not being much above 100 deg. Fahr. and the pulse full, b... Treatment Of Scarlatina Simplex Or Simple Scarlet-fever
_Scarlatina simplex_, or _simple scarlet-fever_ (9), without inflammation of the throat, is generally so mild in its course, that it requires little or no treatment. However, I would not have parents look upon it as "scarcely a disease," as neglect ... Treatment Of The Mild Or Erethic Form Of Scarlatina Anginosa
The _mild_ or _erethic form_ of scarlatina anginosa requires about the same treatment as scarlatina simplex. I would, however, for the sake of safety, advise a pack and bath per day, through the whole course of the disease, in the afternoon, when th... Treatment Of The Violent Or Sthenic Form Of Scarlatina Anginosa
The _violent_, or _sthenic form_ of scarlatina anginosa becomes dangerous only through the excess of reaction, when the heat is extreme (upwards of 105 deg. Fahrenheit, sometimes 112 to 114), the pulse can scarcely be counted, as it hammers away ful... Tricuspid Insufficiency
This rarely, if ever, occurs alone; it is generally a sequence of other valvular defects, and represents an overworked, dilated right ventricle. It may, however, occur from lesions of the lungs which impede the blood flow through them. Such are fibr... Tricuspid Stenosis Tricuspid Obstruction
This is rare and probably always congenital, and is supposed to be due to an inflammation of the endocardium during intra-uterine life. In early childhood it is possible that it may be associated with left-side endocarditis. A special treatment o... Trismus Lockjaw
For traumatic trismus, use the B D current, of vigorous force. Let the wound be kept open and clear, except that soothing emollients may be applied. Place N. P. at the coccyx, or near it on the spine; and then treat, by firm but momentary touches of... Troubles Of The Nervous System
The Nervous System is not easily Damaged. The nervous system is subject to a good many more diseases than are either the muscles or the bones; but, considering how complex it is, it is not nearly so easily damaged or thrown out of balance as we usua... Tuberculosis
In the non-cicatricial forms, galvanocaustic puncture applied through the direct laryngoscope will usually reduce the infiltrations sufficiently to provide a free airway. Should the pulmonary and laryngeal tuberculosis be fortunately cured, leaving,... Tuberculosis Of The Esophagus
Esophageal tuberculosis is not commonly met, but is probably not infrequently associated with the dysphagia of tuberculous laryngitis. It may rarely occur as a primary infection, but usually the esophagus is involved in an extension from a tuberculo... Tuberculosis Of The Tracheobronchial Tree
The bronchoscopic study of tuberculosis is very interesting, but only a few cases justify bronchoscopy. The subglottic infiltrations from extensions of laryngeal disease are usually of edematous appearance, though they are much more firm than in or... Tucker Forceps
Gabriel Tucker modified the regular side-curved forceps by adding a lip (Fig. 21) to the left hand side of both upper and lower jaws. This prevents the shaft of a tack, nail, or pin, from springing out of the grasp of the jaws, and is so efficient t... Typhoid Fever
Ulcerative lesions in the larynx during typhoid fever are almost always the result of mixed infection, though thrombosis of a small vessel, with subsequent necrosis is also seen. If the ulceration reaches the cartilage, cicatricial stenosis is almo... Typhoid Fever
This is a dangerous, and with the ordinary allopathic treatment, a very fatal disease. It generally comes on insidiously, the patient feeling a dull head ache, more or less pain in his joints, back and shoulders, with loss of appetite, restless and ... Ulceration Of The Esophagus
Superficial erosions of the esophagus are by no means an uncommon accompaniment of the stagnation of food and secretions. From the irritation they produce, spastic stenosis may occur, thus constituting a vicious circle; the spasm of the esophagus in... Ulcers Case Xxi
Mrs. Butcher, aged 52, has two ulcers a little above the outer ankle, one the size of half-a-crown, the other, of a shilling, of four months duration, which are now in a healing state by the application of cerate and poultice; the healing process is... Ulcers Case Xxii
J. Copeland, blacksmith, aged 38, came to me with many deep ulcerations, from the size of a horse bean to that of a pea, attended with great pain, heat, itching and excoriations of the surrounding skin, obliging him to rest at different times, for s... Ulcers Case Xxiii
Mr. Marshall, aged 60, had a troublesome ulcer under the outer ankle, of an oblong form and of the size of sixpence. He has been long subject to ulcers of the legs, and he had a similar ulcer to the present one in the same situation, some years ago,... Ulcers Case Xxiv
The following case must not be regarded as altogether trifling. For such sores are very apt to spread and to remain long very troublesome. An old gentleman came to me with an oblong ulcer on the shin about an inch in length; it was very painful a... Ulcers Case Xxix
The peculiarity of the present case arose from neglect in evacuating the fluid effused under the eschar the day succeeding its formation, the consequence of which was that the edges of the eschar became raised all round, without however being entire... Ulcers Case Xxv
The following case illustrates the superior efficacy of the lunar caustic over the ordinary modes of treatment in some ulcers of the legs, and will, I trust, be found particularly interesting. Mr. G.B. aged 60, a very tall and stout person, had tw... Ulcers Case Xxvi
The following case occurred in the person of a lady with varicose veins and far advanced in pregnancy. Its speedy cure by the caustic was, therefore, the more remarkable, and saved her much trouble and suffering. Mrs. C. aged 40, had two small ir... Ulcers Case Xxvii
Mrs. Wakefield, aged 36, had an extensive ulceration with excoriation on the upper part of the right breast, of two months continuance; it had been greatly aggravated by improper treatment. I applied the lunar caustic over the whole ulcerated and ex... Ulcers Case Xxviii
Mrs. U. aged 60, has been subject to ulcerated legs for several years. She has one ulcer on the outer ankle of the size of a shilling, and another behind it of the size of a horse-bean; they have been extremely troublesome and under surgical treatme... Ulcers Case Xxx
C. Cocking, aged 17, has an ulcer of the size of half-a-crown on the inner part of the knee, occasioned by an accident. He had been a month under surgical care in the country when he applied to me, but the ulcer continued without disposition to heal... Ulcers Case Xxxi
Mr. S. aged 30, had a sore two inches in length in the groin, the remains of a phagedenic ulcer. It had remained stationary a whole fortnight under the ordinary treatment by bandage. I applied the lunar caustic to form an eschar and then the gold-be... Unethical Illness
I see a lot of spiritually-induced physical illness in my practice. Maybe more than my share. Maybe its karmic; it tends to find me because I understand it. And it comes up my driveway because people who have it often become doctor shoppers, and see... Unfavorable Symptoms
are: A fetid breath, with ulceration and sloughing of the throat and glands; a smarting and weakening diarrhoea; involuntary evacuations of the bowels; dizziness, deafness, coma, grinding of the teeth; retention of urine; petechiae; a rapid decline ... Unsuccessful Bronchoscopy For Foreign Bodies
The limitations of bronchoscopic removal of foreign bodies are usually manifested in the failure to find a small foreign body which has entered a minute bronchus far down and out toward the periphery. When localization by means of transparent films,... Upper-lobe-bronchus Forceps
Foreign bodies rarely lodge in an upper-lobe bronchus, yet with such a problem it is necessary to have forceps that will reach around a corner. The upper-lobe-bronchus forceps shown in Fig. 27 have curved jaws so made as to straighten out while pas... Urticaria Zoster Rubeola
_Urticaria_, _Zoster_ and _Rubeola_, are treated in the same manner as measles: the main feature, however, is the pack. ... Use Of The Long Cord
It is often desirable to bring the entire parts of the patient, through which the current is made to pass, under one and the same kind of influence--such as shall make them all more positive or more negative. Especially is this true in many cases wh... Van Helmont
JOHANN BAPTIST VAN HELMONT, a celebrated Belgian physician, scholar and visionary, of noble family, was born at Brussels in 1577. At an early age he began the study of medicine, and was appointed Professor of Surgery at the University of Louvain. Be... Varieties Of Forms Of Scarlatina
The above is the description of scarlet-fever, as it most frequently occurs. But far from taking always that regular course, the constitution of the patient, the intensity of the epidemy and the virulence of the poison, the treatment and other circu... Varioloid
is small pox modified by vaccination. It is to be treated as a mild case of small pox. The _Macrotin_ has been used with apparent success as a prophylactic (preventive) to small pox, taken three times daily. ... Varioloids And Chicken-pocks
_Varioloids_ and _Chicken-pocks_, are treated in the same manner, but require less treatment. If well attended to, neither _small-pox_, nor _varioloids_ or _chicken-pocks_, will leave any marks. ... Varix And Angioma Of The Esophagus
These lesions are sometimes the cause of esophageal hemorrhage, the regurgitated blood being bright red, and alkaline in reaction, in contradistinction to the acid coffee ground blood of gastric origin. Esophageal varices may coexist with the common... Venous Pressure
The venous pressure, after a long neglect, is now again being studied, and its determination is urged as of diagnostic and prognostic significance. Hooker [Footnote: Hooker: Am. Jour. Physiol., March, 1916.] says there is a progressive rise of ve... Ventilation All-important
If the circulation of air is necessary in any other form of scarlet-fever, it is all-important in torpid reaction, especially when it inclines to a typhoid type. We should never forget that it is the oxygen of the air that nourishes the process of c... Version Of A Safety Pin
A safety pin of very small size may be turned over in a direction that will cause the point to trail. An advancing point will puncture. This is a dangerous procedure with a large safety pin. ... Violent Reaction Sthenic
If both, the contagious poison and the organism, are very strong, a _violent reaction_ will take place, and the safety of the patient will be endangered by the very violence of the struggle, by which internal organs may be more or less affected. ... Vital Forces Animal And Vegetable
Upon these points I must be permitted to offer a few words. Of the animal kingdom, I regard the "nervous fluid" or "nervous influence," popularly so called, as being the very principle of animal vitalization--the life force; and that, a modificati... Vitamin Program For The Sick
No matter which way you look at it or how well insured you may be against it, being sick is expensive (not to mention what it does to one's quality of life), and by far the best thing to do is to prevent it from happening in the first place. However... Vitamins For An Older Healthy Person
Someone who is beyond 35 to 40 years of age should still feel good almost all of the time. That is how life should be. But enjoying well-being does not mean that no dietary supplementation is called for. The onset of middle age is the appropriate ti... Vitamins For Young Persons And Children
Young healthy people from weaning through their thirties should also take nutritional supplements even though young people usually feel so good that they find it impossible to conceive that anything could harm them or that they ever could become ser... Vocal Results
A whispering voice can always be had as long as air can pass through the larynx, and this may be developed to a very loud penetrating stage whisper. If the arytenoid motility has been uninjured the repeated pulls on the scar tissue may draw out adv... Want Of Water
One of the obstacles is the _want of a sufficient quantity of water_ in some houses, and the difficulty of procuring it. This obstacle is easily removed. If you cannot procure water enough for a half-bath--for there cannot be a difficulty in pr... Water-drinking
As the patient should have a constant supply of pure air for his lungs, so he should also have _plenty of pure cold water_ for his stomach, to allay his thirst and assist in diminishing the heat of fever, and in eliminating the morbid poison from hi... Water-treatment As Used By Currie Reuss Hesse Schoenlein &c
Beside the above modes of treatment _cold_ and _tepid Water_ has been extensively used and recommended by reliable authorities. Currie, Pierce, Gregory, Bateman, von Wedekind, Kolbany, Torrence, Reuss, von Froehlichsthal, and others, have treated th... Weight Loss By Fasting
Loss of weight indicates, almost guarantees, that detoxification and healing is occurring. I can't stress this too much. Of all the things I find my patients seem to misunderstand or forget after being told, it is that they can't heal in a rapid man... Wet Compress
The wet compress on the throat in torpid cases should not be changed often, but left till it becomes almost dry. Should the feet of the patient be cold, a bottle filled with hot water and wrapped in a piece of blanket or a sheet should be placed nea... What Effect Could Be Expected From A Warm Wet-sheet?
The first impression of the wet-sheet is, as I stated before, a _disagreeable_ one. If it were _agreeable_--as a warm sheet, for instance, would be, which has been occasionally tried, of course without doing any good--_it would not produce a reactio... What Is Constipation?
Most people think they are not constipated because they have a bowel movement almost every day, accomplished without straining. I have even had clients tell me that they have a bowel movement once a week, and they are quite certain that they are not... What Is It That Makes Me So Nervous?
THE two main reasons why women are nervous are, first, that they do not take intelligent care of their bodies, and secondly, that they do not govern their emotions. I know a woman who prefers to make herself genuinely miserable rather tha... What Keeps Us Alive
The Energy in Food and Fuel. The first question that arises in our mind on looking at an engine or machine of any sort is, What makes it go? If we can succeed in getting an answer to the question, What makes the human automobile go? we shall have th... What Kind Of Food Should We Eat?
Generally speaking, our Appetites will Guide us. Our whole body is an ingenious machine for catching food, digesting it, and turning the energy, or fuel value, which it contains, into life, movement, and growth. Naturally, two things follow: firs... Where Our Drinking Water Comes From
Water Contained in our Food is Pure. Seeing that five-sixths of our food is water, it is clearly of the greatest importance that that water should be pure. That part of our water supply which we get in and with our foods is fortunately, for the most... Where There Is A Will There Is A Way!
I have been frequently compelled to resort to these milder applications, when there were no bathing utensils in families or boarding-houses, or no servants to carry the water for a bath; and they have always answered very well. In cases where a sitz... Why Does Mrs Smith Get On My Nerves?
IF you want to know the true answer to this question it is "because you are unwilling that Mrs. Smith should be herself." You want her to be just like you, or, if not just like you, you want her to be just as you would best like her. I ha... Why Fuss So Much About What I Eat?
I KNOW a woman who insisted that it was impossible for her to eat strawberries because they did not agree with her. A friend told her that that was simply a habit of her mind. Once, at a time when her stomach was tired or not in good conditi... Why People Get Sick
This is the Theory of Toxemia. A healthy body struggles continually to purify itself of poisons that are inevitably produced while going about its business of digesting food, moving about, and repairing itself. The body is a marvelous creation, a ca... Wine And Water If No Reaction Can Be Obtained
Should the patient remain cold in his pack for longer than an hour,--a case, which will seldom occur,--a little wine and water may be given him to assist the organism in producing a reaction; and, in case of need, the dose may be repeated once or tw... Working Restfully
ONCE met a man who had to do an important piece of scientific work in a given time. He worked from Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock until Monday morning at 10 o'clock without interruption, except for one hour's sleep and the necessary time it... Worms
It is difficult to determine the presence of _worms_ in children, much more in adults, yet both are affected by them occasionally. In children, there is more or less fever and restlessness, screaming out in sleep, starting, pain in the bowels, vomit... Wounds And Bruises
On this subject, I must necessarily be very brief. When a wound is inflicted, the first and most important thing to be done is to _arrest the flow of blood_. Every one should know how to do this. The bleeding is to be stopped, and the wounded vessel... Yellow Fever
[As I have never practiced farther South than Cincinnati, and have seen but few cases of this disease, my experience with it has not been sufficient to be relied upon as authority. Therefore, I shall give a brief description of the disease, with the... You Have No Idea How I Am Rushed
A WOMAN can feel rushed when she is sitting perfectly still and has really nothing whatever to do. A woman can feel at leisure when she is working diligently at something, with a hundred other things waiting to be done when the time comes. I... 1 Is Water Applicable In All Typhoid Cases?
The question has been raised, whether in typhoid cases, and in cases of torpid reaction in general, water is at all applicable? I can answer the question only in the affirmative; but I must add, that the treatment of such cases requires more than co...